The once-mysterious well-dressed woman often seen by Kim Jong Un’s side, was revealed to be his wife, Ri Sol Ju. News of the newlyweds took U.S. officials by surprise. NBC’s Andrea Mitchell reports.

Asia-Pacific

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>>>in charge! the big news you would have learned today is you have a new first lady. put it another way
kim jong
-un is off the market. he went and got married and korean state-run tv today announced the happy union and it came out of nowhere. our chief
foreign affairs
correspondent
andrea mitchell
has the story.

>> reporter: imagine a combination of
kate middleton
and
princess grace
. the young heir to a
political dynasty
married the glamorous
pop star
. but this is the kingdom, instead of a
pomp and circumstance
of a
royal wedding
, here is how
north korean
television shouted the news of the happy couple. the new first lady of
north korea
ri sol ju, seen at the side of greater leader
kim jong
-un visiting school children today and saluting the military, even though he recently fired his top general. until today's announcement she was a well dressed
mystery woman
accompany's kim to a performance of
mickey mouse
and on an island pleasure ground, pyongyang's version of an
amusement park
. leaders rarely reveal
personal life
. while today's announcement while not a missile launch took the u.s. by surprise.

>>to my knowledge, i don't think we were invited to the wedding nor did we have any advance information.

>> reporter: what does it mean
north korea
's version of "
access hollywood
" is featuring glamorous images of the newlyweds.

>>on the surface it's kind of fun and musing. the young leader has a wife. they are going to make little kims. that's all wonderful. in the end the bigger problems still remain.

>> reporter: for now the regime is trying to show a modern face and create a new personality with the young leader and his new wife.
andrea mitchell
, nbc news, washington.